On this blog you can read about my encounters
with local and far-away wildlife,
my adventures and encounters with travelers and locals
with lots of wildlife photos.
I've traveled around in East-Africa, Central America and Madagascar.
The blog is also about wildlife spotting, biodiversity and conservation.

My East Africa, Madagascar & other wildlife photos

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Day 4 video: Masai village visit - singing, dancing, jumping

We visited a small Masai village 4 September 2009. The village is located next to Maasai Mara National Park in Kenya.The Masai demonstrated some traditional songs and dances.

Here you can see them singing, dancing and doing some 'jumpstyle' the Masai way.Actually, it was quite boring to me. Well, it's something different. You don't see it every day. Still. They do this for the tourists who pay up, although they still live the traditional way. It just felt like all of them just did not give shit about what they were doing. Not proudly showing their culture, their heritage and sharing that. No, just making a few bucks and making it easy and quick for themselves. Well, that was my perception.The Masai guy in Arusha that was doing a Swedish song festival dance (the 3 Swedish girls taught him) with a big smile was much more fun.You might never have seen a Masai before. I've seen them everywhere. It's just as normal seeing them around as any other tribe. Except for the ear lobes ;-)

The women inside their compound sang for us with some dance. In the end they were shaking our hands and greeting us. They did not seem to take it serious at all. Don't know who were the monkeys in the zoo. Us or them. Felt like you are doing this touristy thing and watching monkeys. I think they were rediculling us.

A young Masai tells us about life in the village, the compound and how life is organised in the '4 room' hut. It's dark with only one tiny window for the smoke. Luckily I could bring some light with my ring lamp (for my camera). The boy is telling about how they get they get blood from a cow (without killing it) and where they store it.